HR’s Guide to Identity and Access Management

What is Identity and Access Management?

IAM is a framework of business processes, policies, and technologies that facilitates the management of electronic or digital identities. In other words, this allows the right employees to have the right level of access to software and systems at the right time.  

Think of IAM protocols as a digital bouncer for your organization’s digital systems. It checks who you are and then decides what doors it can open for you within those systems. Here’s how it breaks down:

• Identity is about making sure the system knows who you are. This usually involves a username and a password, but it can also include other checks like fingerprints or security tokens. 
  
• Access Management is about controlling what you can do once the system recognizes you. For example, an employee at the individual contributor level might be able to access their email and some shared folders, but only managers might have access to financial records or employee performance reviews.
  

 With an IAM framework in place, IT managers can control user access to critical information within their organizations. This is crucial in a business landscape where safeguarding sensitive data against unauthorized access is paramount.

What are the Benefits of IAM?

With 59% of executives already investing in cybersecurity tools like IAM, it’s clear that safeguarding digital assets is a top priority in today’s business landscape. Here’s how your organization could also reap significant benefits:

• Enhanced security. IAM ensures that only authorized users can access sensitive information, preventing costly data breaches. 
  
• Regulation compliance. Many industries are subject to regulations that require strict management of access to information, such as HIPAA. IAM systems help organizations comply with these regulations by providing tools to control and monitor access effectively.
  
• Improved employee experience. Features like single sign-on (SSO) allow users to log in once and access multiple applications without needing to re-enter credentials, reducing frustration and improving productivity.
  
• Operational efficiency. Automating access helps expedite access to new employees and revoke it when it's no longer needed, ensuring that everyone has exactly the right access to perform their jobs effectively.
  
• Reduced costs. Automated processes mean fewer errors, less manual labor, and a reduced need for IT support related to password recoveries and access issues.
  
• Better auditing and reporting. IAM systems log who accessed what and when, which is valuable data for compliance auditing and security monitoring. It also helps in forensic analysis following a security breach.
  

How Does IAM Work?

IAM is a sophisticated system designed to protect and streamline your organization's digital interactions. Let's break down its inner workings to understand how it secures digital assets and simplifies user experiences.

Identity Lifecycle Management

IAM processes involve an identity lifecycle that mirrors the employee lifecycle:

• New employee onboarding and user provisioning: This involves creating a digital identity for each user within the system. When an employee is hired, they need to be accounted for within both IT and HR systems.
  
• Profile updates: As employees' roles or details change (e.g., promotions, department changes), their associated identities must also be updated to reflect these changes.
  
• Offboarding and deprovisioning: When an employee no longer requires access, such as upon leaving the organization, their identity is deactivated or deleted to prevent unauthorized access.
  

Authentication

Once an identity is established, IAM systems need to verify the legitimacy of users trying to gain access to protected resources:

• Credential management: Employees are often required to create credentials, such as passwords, security questions, or generate keys for hardware tokens.
  
• Login process: Employees must authenticate themselves by providing their credentials, which the IAM system verifies against stored data.
  
• Multi-factor authentication (MFA): For sensitive or critical systems, additional authentication factors beyond just a password (such as biometric verification or a one-time code sent to a mobile device) provide an extra layer of security. This guards your organization against cyber threats.
  

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Learn more: How to Prevent Phishing Scams at Your Organization

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Authorization

After authentication, IAM determines what resources the user is allowed to access:

• Role-based access control (RBAC): Access permissions are often based on the employee's role, such as manager, Finance staff, or IT personnel.
  
• Policy enforcement: The IAM system enforces organizational policies governing access, ensuring that employees can only perform actions permitted by their roles and attributes.
  

Access Management

Effective IAM systems manage ongoing user access to various resources:

• Single sign-on: SSO streamlines employees’ day-to-day, allowing users to log in once and gain access to multiple systems without needing to authenticate separately for each one.
  
• Session management: The IAM system manages the duration of an employee's logged-in sessions. It may require re-authentication for prolonged sessions or when accessing more sensitive resources.
  

Monitoring and Reporting

Continual monitoring and reporting are crucial for maintaining security and compliance:

• Activity logging: All user activities and access patterns are logged, providing an audit trail that can be analyzed for unusual or unauthorized access patterns.
  
• Compliance reporting: IAM systems generate reports that help organizations comply with legal and regulatory requirements, showing who accessed what information and when.
  

The Future of IAM: Integrating HR and IT for Seamless Access

When managing employee access, HR and IT need to be in lockstep to create a frictionless employee experience. Unfortunately, this often isn’t the case. 

Siloed HR and IT teams often grapple with communication gaps that result in incomplete or delayed information transfer, affecting user access and system updates. These issues are compounded if both departments use separate systems that aren’t integrated, leading to manual data entry errors and inefficiencies in managing employee access rights.

By linking HR processes directly with IAM functions, access for new hires is automatically set up as soon as their employment records are activated. Similarly, access rights are promptly revoked when employees leave the organization, triggered automatically by updates to their employment status. This automation speeds up the transition periods and closes security gaps that could otherwise be exploited.